Britain has urged Iran’s new moderate president to ‘use the opportunity to set Iran on a different course for the future’ after years of deadlock with the West.

Hasan Rowhani took more than 50 per cent of more than 36million votes cast in Friday’s election, Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said at a press conference in Tehran.

The one moderate in the race had the support of reformists and previously vowed to follow a policy of ‘detente’ and interaction with the outside world.

He will succeed unpredictable hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

This evening the British Foreign Office said in a statement: ‘We note the announcement that Hasan Rouhani has won the Iranian presidential elections.

‘We call on him to use the opportunity to set Iran on a different course for the future: addressing international concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme, taking forward a constructive relationship with the international community, and improving the political and human rights situation for the people of Iran.’

Earlier in the election race, Tehran’s ruling clerics looked set for a win. But the conservative and hard-line opponents were well behind in the end.

Mr Rowhani stepped down from his role as nuclear negotiator weeks after Mr Ahmadinejad’s election victory in 2005 following a number of quarrels.

He is said to have opposed Mr Ahmadinejad’s combative approach in world affairs. At campaign rallies Mr Rowhani has pledged to seek ‘constructive interaction with the world’.

Mr Rowhani was the only cleric in the six-candidate presidential field.

The plane from Cairo to the US was diverted to Glasgow after a threatening note was found (Picture: PA)

A plane carrying 310 passengers from Cairo to New York has been diverted to Glasgow Prestwick Airport after a woman found a note in the toilet threatening to set the plane on fire.

The person who found the note – a BBC producer – said this evening that ‘it almost looked like a child’s handwriting’.

Two RAF Typhoons escorted the Boeing 777, which was travelling to JFK International Airport, and police were sent to meet the plane after it touched down at 2.30pm.

Egyptair told Reuters that a note, written in English and saying ‘This flight will be on fire’ was found next to a pencil in one of the plane’s toilets by a female passenger.

Producer Nada Tawfik told the BBC she found the message written in pencil on a napkin inside the sink about three hours into the flight.

‘It almost looked like a child’s handwriting or someone who has very sloppy handwriting, but it was very alarming especially these days when everyone is so concerned about safety on flights,’ she said.

‘I said to one of the stewardesses “I don’t know if this is a prank”, they said no, it can’t be a prank.

‘Either someone has a very bad sense of humour or, you know, it’s very scary.’

Passengers leave the Egyptair aircraft, which one eye witness said was surrounded by snipers (Picture: PA)

NBS News producer Carol Gable was on board the flight and told ITV she could see three snipers outside her window.

‘I can see three snipers on my side of the plane, and I assume there are three on the other side. When we first landed there was a fire truck at the side of the runway,’ she wrote.

She said the initial pilot’s announcement was that they were switching airports due to technical difficulties.

Ms Gable added that a crew member had told her about the note, and that after three hours of waiting, passengers were expecting to be moved to a terminal building.

Tawfik Assy, chairman of the state-owned airline, said in Cairo that the pilot told air traffic control and landed at Glasgow Prestwick Airport, where the passengers disembarked.

Trooping the Colour was traditionally done in preparation for battle, when colours were carried down the rank and shown to the soldiers.

Guards from the royal palaces assembled daily on Horse Guards to ‘troop the colours’ in the 18th century.

A soldier from the Household Division looking back down The Mall towards Buckingham Palace during Trooping of the Colour (Picture: PA)

In 1748 it was confirmed that the parade would also mark the sovereign’s official birthday.

The flag of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards was paraded this year.

The unit had been in Afghanistan until recently, working as part of the Afghan Police Advisory Team and helping to reach self governance.

Four of the five Foot Guards regiments of the Household Division marched wearing bearskin hats and red tunics. They included the Welsh Guards, Grenadier Guards, Scots Guards and the Coldstream Guards.

The Household Division Bands and Corps of Drums also took part, as did the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery.

]]>http://metro.co.uk/2013/06/15/soldier-faints-at-queens-birthday-parade-3842495/feed/0Solider faints TroopingKate MiddletonHandout photo issued by the Ministry of Defence of a soldier from the Household Division looking back down The Mall towards Buckingham Palace, during Trooping the Colour at Horse Guards Parade, London. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Saturday June 15, 2013. See PA story ROYAL Trooping. Photo credit should read: MoD/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.Two arrests after boy, 17, stabbed to death in Bristolhttp://metro.co.uk/2013/06/15/two-arrests-after-boy-17-stabbed-to-death-in-bristol-3842468/
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Police are appealing for anyone who was in the Cossington Road and Newquay Road area after a fatal stabbing (Picture: Google)

Two teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a 17-year-old boy was stabbed to death in the Knowle West area of Bristol last night.

The victim was attacked near the junction of Cossington Road and Newquay Road shortly before midnight.

He was taken to Frenchay Hospital, but died shortly afterwards.

Avon and Somerset Police said two men, aged 19 and 18, have been arrested on suspicion of murder. They remain in police custody.

A spokesman said: ‘We would like to hear from anyone who was in the Cossington Road and Newquay Road area of Knowle West between 10.30pm and midnight last night who may have information to help police enquiries.

‘At present we believe this to be an isolated incident but are providing high profile patrols in the area to provide reassurance and receive information from members of the public.’

A police officer was arrested this morning in connection with the ‘Plebgate’ affair which led to the resignation of the Tory chief whip Andrew Mitchell.

Scotland Yard said the 48-year-old diplomatic protection group police constable is being held on suspicion of misconduct in a public office as part of Operation Alice, which is looking into whether officers lied about the dispute which forced the Tory MP to quit the Cabinet.

A 49-year-old woman – who is not a police officer – was arrested at a separate address on suspicion of assisting an offender.

Mr Mitchell quit after it was claimed he swore at police officers and called them ‘plebs’ because they would not let him leave Downing Street on his bike via the main gate in September last year.

The arrested policeman is one of four officers previously issued with a Regulation 15 notice, served after an alleged breach of standards of professional behaviour.

CCTV footage of ‘Plebgate’ involving Andrew Mitchell (Picture: PA)

The officer is expected to be suspended later today after being put on restricted duties.

He and the woman were taken to separate police stations – one in London and the other outside the capital.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: ‘On June 4, officers working on Operation Alice received fresh information regarding the investigation.

‘As a result of this information and subsequent investigations, the directorate of professional standards has arrested two people, a man and a woman, at two residential addresses, this morning.’

The Independent Police Complaints Commission has been informed of the arrest.

Following Mr Mitchell’s resignation, a Channel 4 investigation cast doubt over the original account.

Six people have now been arrested as part of the investigation. But the probe has been criticised by MPs because it has already taken eight months and cost taxpayers more than £140,000.

South Africa’s president Jacob Zuma said on Thursday that Mr Mandela was ‘responding better’ to treatment after a difficult few days, but that he remained in serious condition.

The anti-apartheid hero has been receiving visits from family members after he was taken to hospital a week ago with a recurrence of lung problems.

Mr Mandela has been treated in a hospital four times since December. He has had respiratory problems after he contracted tuberculosis during his 27-year imprisonment under apartheid.

Mr Mandela was freed in 1990 and became South Africa’s first black president in elections in 1994.

]]>http://metro.co.uk/2013/06/15/nelson-mandela-recovering-very-well-says-grandson-3842322/feed/0It has been reported that Nelson Mandela, 94, was re-admitted to hospital shortly before midnight on Wednesday, due to a recurring lung infection. He spent 18 days in hospital in December being treated for a lung infection and gallstones.Nelson MandelaMandla Mandela, Nelson MandelaScotland Yard to lead Madeleine McCann investigationhttp://metro.co.uk/2013/06/15/scotland-yard-to-lead-madeleine-mccann-investigation-3842280/
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Scotland Yard will take control of the Madeleine McCann investigation (Picture: PA)

The Metropolitan Police are set to take control of the Madeleine McCann case after the Home Office agreed to fund it.

Home secretary Theresa May has backed a UK-led probe into the three-year-old’s disappearance.

Maddie went missing from her family’s apartment in the resort of Praia de Luz in Portugal in 2007.

The Home Office said it is committed to supporting the search for her and has agree ‘to provide the Metropolitan Police with the resources they need to investigate her disappearance’.

Scotland Yard has been reviewing the case for the last two years at a cost of £5m, establishing a number of fresh leads and identifying around 20 ‘people of interest’. But the police in Portugal have not reopened the case.

UK police said Maddie’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann are being kept fully updated on their progress.

A statement from Scotland Yard said: ‘We are reviewing a significant number of documents and continue to identify potential lines of inquiry.

‘We are in regular contact with Kate and Gerry McCann and they are kept fully updated on the progress of our work.

‘We also continue to work closely with the Portuguese police and are actively considering our next steps.’

Half of prostate cancer cases are wrongly being given the all-clear, it has been claimed (Picture: PA/File)

Half of men with prostate cancer are wrongly being given the all-clear, it has been claimed.

Outdated diagnosis procedures are said to be the cause of the misinformation, with a quarter of suspected sufferers also reportedly being put through unnecessary invasive procedures after falsely testing positive.

The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and University College London said its study has found that most NHS hospitals are using flawed techniques to diagnose men.

It said half of men with ‘significant’ levels of prostate cancer could be missed during standard biopsy procedures, The Telegraph reported

Patients who undergo an MRI scan first to examine the area, with the findings mapped out by ultrasound, are more likely to get a reliable result, according the study, which was funded by the Wellcome trust.

Sarah Willis, a health economist from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: ‘The key to improving outcomes in prostate cancer is to really target treatment on those who need it.

‘These findings suggest that the use of MRI and ultrasound not only detects far more cases, but leads to fewer false positives, in which significant disease is wrongly diagnosed.’

Prof Mark Emberton, lead investigator on the study and professor of interventional oncology at University College London, said hospitals need to update their practice.

He said: ‘There is no other organ of the body where we carry out random ‘blind’ biopsies without knowing where we are looking – at UCLH we have been using MRI, followed by a guided biopsy for several years, but there are only a handful of hospitals in this country which currently do this, and that needs to change.’

A Devon dairy has been told to stop production amid fears of milk and cream contamination (Picture: File)

Consumers have been told to get rid of any milk or cream from a Devon dairy amid fears the products have been contaminated.

Dunn’s Dairy at Beacon View Farm in Drewsteignton, Devon, has been told to halt production after environmental officers raised the alert over concerns that either the pasteurised milk had been contaminated or the pasteurisation process had not been effective.

West Devon Borough Council’s environmental health team has asked the dairy to stop supplying milk and cream products and recall any supplied.

Dr Mark Kealy, consultant with the Devon, Cornwall and Somerset Public Health England centre, said: ‘Taking into account the findings from the environmental health officers who visited the dairy, we want to take a precautionary approach and ask anyone who has received milk and cream products from the dairy to dispose of it and not consume.

‘We will continue to work with West Devon Borough Council who will be carrying out further investigations.’

Peter Wearden, divisional environmental health officer at the council, said: ‘We have taken steps that require the dairy to stop processing milk and recall milk and cream products that might have been sold to the public.

‘We must be satisfied that the products can be produced safely before we allow future sales and we are continuing our investigations.’

The milk mark on the bottles is ‘UK DE 008 EC’.

Officials said the dairy should not be confused with with Dunn’s Dairy of Underdown Farm in Exbourne, Devon.

Tony Blair has called for the west to intervene in Syria (Picture: EPA)

Former prime minister Tony Blair has called on the west to intervene in Syria or risk ‘catastrophic consequences’ such as chemical weapons becoming an ‘acceptable form of warfare’.

Mr Blair urged Britain to help America arm the Syrian rebels.

‘I feel very strongly that we are in danger of a failure with catastrophic consequences,’ he told the Times.

‘This is no longer a civil war between fractions within Syria. We should be taking a more interventionist line.

‘You don’t have to send in troops, but the international community should think about installing no-fly zones.’

Mr Blair, now a peace envoy, added that the use of chemical weapons and intervention of Hezbollah, at the instigation of Iran, has ‘completely changed the game’.

Syria has dismissed the claims about chemical weapons as ‘a caravan of lies’, adding that the US had used ‘fabricated information’.

Russia has also questioned the evidence put forward by the United States of chemical weapons use, saying it does not meet stringent criteria for reliability.

Prime minister David Cameron was last night in discussions with president Barack Obama, French president Francois Hollande, German chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian prime minister Enrico Letta ahead of next week’s G8 summit in Lough Erne.

Mr Cameron earlier restated that no decision had been taken to arm moderate rebels opposed to Assad.

He backed Washington’s ‘candid assessment’ that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons.

‘There is credible evidence of multiple attacks using chemical weapons in Syria, including the use of the abhorrent agent sarin,’ Mr Cameron added.

‘We haven’t seen any credible reporting of chemical weapons use by the Syrian opposition.

‘However, we assess that elements affiliated to al Qaida in the region have attempted to acquire chemical weapons for probable use in Syria.’

Mr Camerons said the information about chemical weapons ‘further shows the folly of having some embargo that gives some sort of almost moral equivalence to President Assad and to the legitimate opposition’.

Mr Obama has approved arming the Syrian rebels for the first time in response to the development, according to officials.

A boy aged four has died after a mirror fell on him at a Hugo Boss shop in Bicester (Picture: Google)

A four-year-old boy has died after a mirror fell on him at a Hugo Boss store in Bicester.

The boy suffered serious head injuries after the incident at around 8.40pm on Tuesday at the Bicester Outlet shopping village in Pingle Drive, Oxfordshire, according to police.

He was taken to the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford, but died in the early hours of this morning.

Police, who originally said that part of a shop fitting had fallen on the boy, are now appealing for witnesses.

In a statement this evening, Hugo Boss said: ‘At around 8.30pm on June 4, a four-year-old child was injured by a mirror falling on him. The child suffered serious injuries and was treated at hospital where this morning he passed away.

‘Everyone at Hugo Boss is devastated by this tragic accident and we would like to extend our deepest condolences and sympathies to his family. All of our thoughts are with them at this time.

‘Hugo Boss will assist the authorities in any way with an investigation into the accident.’

A company spokesman declined to give details of how it fell and whether it fell from height. He said the store would remain closed until further notice.

Investigating officer Det Insp Steve Duffy said: ‘Our thoughts are with the family at this time.

‘We are currently investigating the circumstances of this boy’s death and we would ask anyone who was in the Hugo Boss store at around that time on Tuesday to please contact us as a matter of urgency.’

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Thames Valley Police on the non-emergency number 101.

Kabang comes home: The dog that lost face through a heroic act is back in the Philippines after surgery (Picture: AP)

A hero pooch that lost half its face after jumping in front of a motorcycle and saving the lives of two little girls arrived home in the Philippines on Saturday following months of surgery in the United States.

Kabang, a mixed-breed whose snout and upper jaw were sheared off in the incident in 2011, was also heralded by her handler for restoring hope in humanity.

A homecoming parade is planned for the mongrel in Zamboanga.

Kabang won widespread sympathy because of her injuries from what has been described as a heroic act.

In December 2011 she jumped into the path of a motorcycle, stopping it from running over her owner’s daughter and niece in southern Zamboanga city.

A nurse from Buffalo, New York, was so touched that she spearheaded a fundraising campaign to bring Kabang to the US because vets at home could not treat her.

More than $27,000 was raised for Kabang so she could have surgery in the US (Picture: Reuters)

Around $27,000 (£17,355) was donated from 45 countries, so she could undergo seven months of treatment at the University of California, Davis, veterinary hospital.

Filipino veterinarian Anton Lim, who accompanied the dog, said: ‘It is very fulfilling that at least our hope in humanity is restored.’

Lim said Kabang has become a symbol of ‘unconditional love’.

‘Now, if you give unconditional love to your dog, of course they will give it back to you. So, she saved two lives so the whole world actually came together to save hers, so it is really a very nice symbol for everyone,’ he said.

UC Davis veterinary Professor Frank Verstraete said doctors at the hospital performed surgery to heal her wounds, though they could not reconstruct Kabang’s jaw or snout.

They first had to deal with other aliments including a tumor and heartworm. They then took skin from her cheeks, neck, and forehead to cover up sensitive areas that were exposed on her face during surgery in March.

About 45,000 people were at the Hyde Park rally organised by Enough Food for Everyone IF (Picture: PA)

Up to £2.7 billion has been secured to tackle global under-nutrition between now and 2020, as prime minister David Cameron argued that leading nations must ‘do things differently’ if they want to solve world hunger.

The UK committed an extra £375m of core funding and £280m of matched funding for the period.

The prime minister was addressing fellow leaders, businessmen, and foundations at the hunger summit as they hammered out ambitious targets, ahead of the G8 summit in Northern Ireland.

Meanwhile an estimated 45,000 people descended on Hyde Park for a protest rally that boasted a string of celebrities and was organised by Enough Food for Everyone IF to coincide with the London meeting.

Supporters heard Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates praise the UK for ‘leading the way’ on tackling hunger, while director Danny Boyle said ending world hunger would be ‘the greatest gold medal Britain could win in 2013′.

David Cameron addresses the Nutrition for Growth global hunger summit in central London (Picture: PA)

Mr Cameron, Brazilian vice president Michel Temer and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation president Jamie Cooper-Hoh brokered a committed to supporting a historic reduction in ‘under-nutrition’, the biggest underlying cause of death in under fives in the world, responsible for 8,000 child deaths each day.

Of the £2.7bn secured, £1.9bn is core funding, with the remainder through matched funding.

Mr Cameron said many people feared the problem of hunger was ‘never going to be solved, adding ‘the truth is if we carry on doing things in the same way, they will be right’.

‘We will never beat hunger just by spending more money or getting developed nations and philanthropists to somehow ‘do development’ to the developing world,’ he said.

Supporters of the Enough Food for Everyone IF campaign showed governments the way (Picture: EPA)

‘It has to be about doing things differently. Different in terms of business. Different in terms of science. Different in terms of government.

At Hyde Park, there was a so-called visual petition of 250,000 spinning flowers, featuring 2 million petals to represent the children who die because of malnutrition each year.

Mr Boyle drew on the Olympics opening ceremony he directed, telling the crowd: ‘It completely horrifies me, when I think about that wonderful procession of optimistic, enthusiastic athletes with their flags of their countries – that in the countries represented by those flags more than three million children die of hunger every year.

Danny Boyle drew on the Olympics to send a message to the crowds (Picture: PA)

‘Anyone who says that we can’t crack the hunger crisis is wrong.

‘This is my dream – it’s a passionate dream – that in Olympics to come there will be no-one dying of hunger in any of the countries whose wonderful flags wave in the wind. And it is a fight that will be won.’

The campaign said there were three key summits, including today’s, leading up to the G8 meeting.

Bill Gates spoke at the protest rally event and the official summit in London (Picture: PA)

Mr Gates told the rally that ‘using your voice to show the world you care makes a real difference’.

‘The UK is keeping its promise to the world’s poor, largely because all of you remind your leaders regularly, and loudly, that this stuff matters. Now is our chance to make a significant difference.’

Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, actor David Harewood and singer Myleene Klass appeared at Hyde Park. David Beckham and Eddie Izzard sent broadcast messages to the crowds.

Actor David Harewood plants one of the final flowers in the Visual Petition (Picture: PA)

Dr Williams led a minute’s silence ‘to reflect on the pain’ of death by malnutrition, followed by a ‘righteous anger’ from the crowds to show that the ‘injustice of hunger has gone on too long’.

Homeland star Mr Harewood insisted that ‘there can be enough food for everyone’.

In his message, former England captain Beckham welcomed the government’s financial commitment, but said ‘there is more to do though and you can help’.

Dozens of students sitting their final exams fled from Santa Monica College as a gunman went on a shooting spree which left five dead.

Officials said the killings began as a domestic violence incident as the man, dressed in black and wearing what appeared to be a ballistic jacket, opened fire on a house yesterday before it went up in flames.

Two bodies were found, believed to have been the man’s father and brother.

The man then wounded a woman in a car before moving toward the Santa Monica College campus.

Children from Citizens of the World Charter School were at Santa Monica College on a field trip (Picture: AP)

Police said he opened fire on a city bus, a police car and other vehicles, as well as bystanders and pedestrians.

The driver of an SUV leaving a campus car park was killed and one passenger was wounded as the car crashed through a wall.

Police said the gunman entered the campus, fatally wounding a woman as he made his way toward the college’s library, where students were studying for final exams.

‘We saw a woman get shot in the head,’ said administrative assistant Trena Johnson. ‘I haven’t been able to stop shaking.’

Police search the grounds of Santa Monica College (Picture: AFP/Getty)

Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks said the gunman continued to shoot at people in the library, but did not hit anybody there as dozens ran for the exits.

Jimes Gillespie, 20, said he was in the library studying when he heard gunfire.

‘As I was running down the stairs I saw one of the gunmen,’ he said.

Mr Gillespie described the shooter as a white man in his 20s, wearing cornrows in his hair and black overalls.

Police eventually shot the gunman dead in the library, taking the death toll to five.

Sgt Richard Lewis, a Santa Monica police spokesman, told a news conference that another man was questioned and released and was not being treated as a suspect.

A detective speaks to a woman who has just been escorted from a crime scene at the California college (Picture: Reuters)]]>http://metro.co.uk/2013/06/08/five-dead-after-santa-monica-college-shooting-3833172/feed/0AY_111674227.jpgSanta MonicaSanta MonicaSanta Monica shootingSanta MonicaNelson Mandela in ‘serious but stable’ condition in hospitalhttp://metro.co.uk/2013/06/08/nelson-mandela-in-serious-but-stable-condition-3833153/
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Nelson Mandela, pictured here in 2012, is said to be in ‘serious but stable’ condition after a lung infection (Picture: AFP/Getty)

Former South African president Nelson Mandela is in hospital in a ‘serious but stable’ condition after being treated for a lung infection.

His wife Graca Machel is understood to have cancelled an appearance at a hunger summit in London today to fly back to South Africa to be with her 94-year-old husband.

Mr Mandela has been treated in a hospital several times in recent months. He has been particularly vulnerable to respiratory problems since contracting tuberculosis during his 27-year imprisonment under apartheid.

Most recently on April 6 he was discharged after doctors drained fluid from his lung area after diagnosing him with pneumonia.

A statement from current president Jacob Zuma said: ‘During the past few days, former President Nelson Mandela has had a recurrence of lung infection.

‘This morning at about 1.30am, his condition deteriorated and he was transferred to a Pretoria hospital.’

Mr Zuma wished Mr Mandela a quick recovery on behalf of the government and the nation, adding that ‘doctors are doing everything possible to make him better and comfortable’.

The African National Congress, which has dominated politics in South Africa since the end of apartheid, said it hoped Mandela, known affectionately by his clan name Madiba, would get better soon.

‘We will keep president Mandela and his family in our thoughts and prayers at this time and call upon South Africans and the peoples of the globe to do the same for our beloved statesman and icon, Madiba.’

William Hague should report to the House of Commons over alleged GCHQ internet spying links, it was claimed (Picture: PA)

Foreign secretary William Hague should come before the House of Commons and explain Britain’s links with a controversial US internet monitoring programme, it was said today.

British intelligence service GCHQ is set to report to MPs ‘very shortly’ on its connection with the US spying Prism programme, which has allegedly been tapping into records stored by the likes of Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Apple.

It was reported that the Cheltenham-based eavesdropping agency generated 197 intelligence reports, skipping legal procedures to access emails, photos and videos, by using Prism.

The UK’s intelligence and security committee (ISC) led by Sir Malcolm Rifkind said MPs are set to receive a report on the claims about the GCHQ links.

‘The ISC will be receiving a full report from GCHQ very shortly and will decide what further action needs to be taken as soon as it receives that information,’ he said.

GCHQ will report to MPS ‘very shortly’ (Picture: Reuters)

But shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander said the reports have raised serious public concern.

‘I am now calling on the foreign secretary, William Hague, to come to the commons on Monday to make an urgent statement to MPs.

‘In that statement he must explain the government’s position and tell MPs how the government will work with the intelligence and security committee to address these public concerns.’

The Guardian and The Washington Post revealed the existence of Prism, which is said to have been established in 2007 under changes to US surveillance laws passed by president George Bush and renewed last year under Barack Obama.

They reported it has given the world’s biggest intelligence agency, America’s National Security Agency (NSA), and the FBI easy access to the systems of nine top internet companies, including Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Yahoo and Skype.

Google has denied any knowledge of the Prism programme, and insisted it does not let the US government directly access its records. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg also denied knowing anything about Prism.

President Barack Obama is said to have renewed the Prism online spying system (Picture: AP)

GCHQ was said to have generated the intelligence reports through the system in the 12 months to May 2012, when it saw a 137 per cent increase on the previous year.

It refused to comment directly on the report.

A statement said: ‘GCHQ takes its obligations under the law very seriously.

‘Our work is carried out in accordance with a strict legal and policy framework which ensures that our activities are authorised, necessary and proportionate, and that there is rigorous oversight, including from the secretary of state, the interception and intelligence services commissioners and the intelligence and security committee.

Other MPs and human rights groups expressed concern over the revelations.

Google has also been targeted by the US spy programme Prism, according to reports (Picture: AP)

Senior Tory David Davis said it was difficult to reconcile GCHQ’s statement that it was subject to proper scrutiny with the fact that parliament was unaware of it.

He said: ‘In the absence of parliamentary knowledge approval by a secretary of state is a process of authorisation, not a process of holding to account. Since nobody knew it was happening at all there is no possibility of complaint.

‘Furthermore since it is outside the normal remit of UK intelligence it is hard to see how the Intelligence and Security Committee would have the resources or access to ensure the NSA behaved appropriately.”

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said it is important for the UK intelligence community to be able to gather information from abroad, but that there ‘have to be legal safeguards in place’.

‘That is why the prime minister, home secretary and foreign secretary, and all the intelligence agencies should provide full information to the intelligence and security committee as swiftly as possible, and the ISC should have full support to pursue this and report.’

Shami Chakrabarti, director of civil rights group Liberty, said: ‘These reports suggest a breach of trust on the grandest scale with the US Government, Internet Service Providers and our own UK intelligence community showing contempt for privacy, legality and democracy itself.’

Police had been firing water cannon and tear gas earlier to break up the anti-government protests.

But officers have now removed barricades placed around the square to prevent people coming in, according to the private Dogan news agency.

A demonstrator throws a tear gas canister back at riot police in Istanbul (Picture: Reuters)

The Foreign Office is advising Britons to avoid some of the main cities.

A note on their website says: ‘Demonstrations are taking place in Istanbul and in other cities across Turkey, including Ankara.

Police use a water cannon to disperse protesters near the Taksim Gezi park (Picture: AFP/Ghetty)

‘Police are using tear gas and water cannons in response. We advise British nationals to avoid all demonstrations.’

The Association of British Travel Agents (Abta) said around 15,000 UK holidaymakers would have been in Turkey over half-term, but that many were heading back this weekend.

Most tourist resorts are in coastal areas, away from the cities where protests are taking place, a spokesperson added.

Tear gas is fired at the public in Istanbul (Picture: EPA)

The opposition to the redevelopment plans at the park was initially a peaceful sit-in.

But heavy-handed police tactics provoked wider protests, which have become focused on Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and spread into other cities.

Mr Erdogan, who is seen as becoming increasingly authoritarian, called for peace but indicated they would press ahead with the redevelopment plans to build a shopping centre and a former Ottoman army barracks.

But Friday’s visit was the nearest approach for at least two centuries and gives scientists a chance to examine it, despite the distance.

These were the first radar images of asteroid 1998 QE2. The lower right dot is its moon (Picture: Reuters/Nasa)

Prof Alan Fitzsimmons, an astronomer at Queen’s University Belfast, told the BBC: ‘It’s a big one. And there are very few of these objects known – there are probably only about 600 or so of this size or larger in near-Earth space.

‘And importantly, if something this size did hit us one day in the future, it is extremely likely it would cause global environmental devastation, so it is important to try and understand these objects.’

It comes three months after Earth’s ‘near-miss’ with the 150ft-wide asteroid 2012 DA14.

Parents of Georgia Williams, Steven and Lynette (centre), were at Telford stadium to pay tribute to their daughter (Picture: PA)

The father of Georgia Williams has paid a heartfelt tribute to his daughter, saying ‘thank you for being in my life’.

Steven and Lynette Williams were joined on Saturday by more than 100 family, friends and well-wishers at the AFC Telford United football ground in Wellington, Telford, Shropshire, where she had worked.

Her police officer father described the teenager as ‘a great girl’, the BBC reported today.

Tory MP Patrick Mercer tabled parliamentary questions on behalf of a fake lobbying firm that was paying him thousands of pounds, it has been alleged.

It is also claimed the MP offered a Commons security pass to the fake company that paid him £4,000 to put forward the questions.

The Newark MP announced yesterday he is resigning the whip to ‘save my party embarrassment’. He said he would quit the Commons at the general election, and had referred himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.

The former shadow minister said he was taking legal advice after the sting operation by the Daily Telegraph and the BBC’s Panorama programme.

Panorama has released a clip of Mr Mercer meeting an undercover reporter, who was posing as a representative of the fake company.

Mr Mercer can be heard saying: ‘I do not charge a great deal of money for these things. I would normally come out at £500 per half day, so £1,000 a day.’

Panorama have released a clip of its sting on Tory MP Patrick Mercer (Picture: AFP/Getty)

The Telegraph said Mr Mercer signed a £2,000 per month contract with the undercover reporters, who were posing as lobbyists representing businesses who wanted to end Fiji’s suspension from the Commonwealth.

Fiji was suspended in 2009 over human rights concerns and a lack of democracy.

The paper also reported that Mr Mercer offered to set up an all-party parliamentary group (APPG) of politicians to consider issues around Fiji. It reported Mr Mercer saying that APPGs could be ‘a way of getting passes for people to get into Parliament’.

It is alleged that after being paid £4,000, he tabled five parliamentary questions related to the country that had been drafted by the bogus lobbyists as well as a parliamentary motion.

Parliamentary records show he asked questions in May about Fiji’s suspension from the Commonwealth, and UK investment in its public transport, but apparently did not declare an interest.

In March he put down an Early Day Motion – a parliamentary device used to draw attention to issues – saying there was ‘no justification for Fiji’s continued suspension from the Commonwealth’.

In a statement Panorama said: ‘Patrick Mercer MP said he agreed to be a consultant for work he said was outside parliament.

‘But he submitted five parliamentary questions, which were all answered, as well as an early day motion – all in relation to Fiji.’